Franklin B. Wellock, (August 11, 1839 – June 29, 1902) was a 19th-century American Boston Maritime pilot. He is best known for being with the Boston pilot service for over 55 years. He was captain and owner of the celebrated pilot boat Minerva.

Early life

Captain Franklin B. Wellock was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts on August 11, 1839. He was the son of Charles Henry Wellock and Eliza Campbell. Wellock was married to Harriet L. Slack and had five children. His son, Samuel Franklin Wellock, was connected with the pilot-boat America No. 1.[1]

As a boy, he sold newspapers on the ferryboat of the Eastern Railroad. He was near the railroad during the great gale of April 1851 that destroyed the Minot's Ledge Light. He knew Andrew Carney, who built the Carney Hospital.[2] When he was 13 years old, he went to sea and cruised on the fishing schooner Hope, of Provincetown.[1]

Career


Pilot Boat Minerva.

Wellock was a Boston pilot for more than 55 years. In 1855, he began his career as a pilot on the pilot-boat Friend. On July 6, 1859, Wellock received his full commission as a pilot, being attached to the pilot-boats Friend, Phantom I, William Starkey, Phantom II, Gracie, Pet, Fleur de Lis, and Eben D. Jordan, No. 2. He owned and ran the Fleurde-Lis, for two years, which he sold and was converted into a pleasure yacht. He built the Moses H. Grinnell and the Minerva. During the American Civil War, he did service for the government in the Boston port.[1][3]

On July 15, 1894, Amy Robsart, from the Boston Post, tells a story about a two day trip with Wellock on the pilot boat Sylph, No. 8. They went cruising between Nahant and Minots Ledge, Massachusetts and expereinced boarding and taking off pilots from incoming vessels.[4]

Wellock was captain and owner of the pilot boat Minerva, No. 7, built in 1896 by the Ambrose A. Martin shipyard at Jeffries Point. The pilot-boat was named for his daughter, Minerva Hill Wellock.[5] She sent on her trial trip on March 14, 1896 from the National dock at East Boston. Captain Wellock was in command and sailed the boat out of Boston Harbor, past Fort Warren, Fort Winthrop and then on to the Brewster Islands.[6] In 1900, Wellock's son, Samuel F. Wellock, was a pilot on the Minerva.[2]

Death

On June 29, 1902, Captain Franklin B. Wellock died in East Boston. He was 63 years old. He was buried at the family lot in the Woodlawn cemetery in Everett, Massachusetts.[1]

See also

  • List of Northeastern U. S. Pilot Boats

References

  1.  "Capt Franklin B. Wellock Dead at His Home". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 29 Jun 1902. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-10-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  2.  "Boston's Pilot System". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 29 Apr 1900. p. 32. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  3.  "Boston Pilots. Men Who Are Familiar With the Harbor". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 22 Sep 1889. p. 24. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  4.  "On A Pilot Boat. Amy Robsart's Taste of a Life on the Ocean Wave". Boston Post. Boston, Massachusetts. 14 Jul 1894. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  5.  "New Pilot Boat Minerva, No 7. Will be Launched Today and Go Into Commission About The First of March". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 4 Feb 1896. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-10-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  6.  "New Pilot Boat Minerva. First Time Under Sail". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 15 Mar 1896. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-10-31 – via Newspapers.com.
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